Arrests made in attempted holdup of pizza driver

Curdray Wimberly

Four arrests have been made in connection with an alleged armed robbery and shooting of a pizza deliveryman late Wednesday night.

The suspects, ranging from 15 to 24 years of age, are facing numerous charges, including armed robbery, aggravated assault and other weapons charges. Two stolen firearms were recovered overnight.

One of the firearms recovered was used in the shooting.

“This was a setup,” said ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor. “They planned it out. They set the victim up for an ambush.”

Under arrest are a 15-year-old male, along with Peter Johnson III, Joshua Buckner and Curdray Wimberly.

According to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, shortly after 11 p.m., deputies responded to a residence on Mockingbird Drive near Springfield on a report of an armed robbery and shots fired.

The deliveryman had been called to a residence in the 300 block of Mockingbird drive to deliver three pizzas.

When the driver got to the house, it was vacant, and he did not see a car in its driveway, Ehsanipoor said.

When the deliveryman arrived on scene, he was ambushed by three adult males and one teenager. The teenager had a semi-automatic handgun and fired at the driver, according to Ehsanipoor. The gun, a .380 caliber, was reported stolen out of Glynn County. The other firearm recovered by deputies was reported stolen from an Effingham County residence.

The bullet went into the pizza boxes. The victim sustained minor injuries from the shrapnel in the shooting.

“Luckily, he wasn’t badly hurt,” Ehsanipoor said.

The victim managed to get away from the attackers and called the ECSO. A deputy located a witness, and other deputies worked throughout the night to develop information on the incident, Ehsanipoor said.

Deputies searched several homes and found all four attackers in four different residences. The first arrest was made around 1 a.m. Thursday, and the final arrest was made around 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

Johnson, Buckner and Wimberly are being charged with armed robbery while the teenager is being charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault. The teen is in custody at a youth detention center.